Why the West Craves Materialism & Why the East Sticks to Religion - By Imran Khan

[AZ]

My generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan. Despite gaining independent, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public schoolboys rather than Pakistanis.


I read Shakespeare, which was fine, but no Allama Iqbal — the national poet of Pakistan. The class on Islamic studies was not taken seriously, and when I left school I was considered among the elite of the country because I could speak English and wore Western clothes.


Despite periodically shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ in school functions, I considered my own culture backward and religion outdated. Among our group if any one talked about religion, prayed or kept a beard he was immediately branded a Mullah.


Because of the power of the Western media, our heroes were Western movie stars or pop stars. When I went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up, things didn’t get any easier. At Oxford, not just Islam, but all religions were considered anachronism.


Science had replaced religion and if something couldn’t be logically proved it did not exist. All supernatural stuff was confined to the movies. Philosophers like Darwin, who with his half-baked theory of evolution had supposedly disproved the creation of men and hence religion, were read and revered.


Moreover, European history reflected its awful experience with religion. The horrors committed by the Christian clergy during the Inquisition era had left a powerful impact on the Western mind.


To understand why the West is so keen on secularism, one should go to places like Cordoba in Spain and see the torture apparatus used during the Spanish Inquisition. Also the persecution of scientists as heretics by the clergy had convinced the Europeans that all religions are regressive.


However, the biggest factor that drove people like me away from religion was the selective Islam practiced by most of its preachers. In short, there was a huge difference between what they practiced and what they preached. Also, rather than explaining the philosophy behind the religion, there was an overemphasis on rituals.


I feel that humans are different to animals. While, the latter can be drilled, humans need to be intellectually convinced. That is why the Qur’an constantly appeals to reason. The worst, of course, was the exploitation of Islam for political gains by various individuals or groups.


Hence, it was a miracle I did not become an atheist. The only reason why I did not was the powerful religious influence my mother wielded on me since my childhood. It was not so much out of conviction but love for her that I stayed a Muslim.


However, my Islam was selective. I accepted only parts of the religion that suited me. Prayers were restricted to Eid days and occasionally on Fridays, when my father insisted on taking me to the mosque with him.


All in all I was smoothly moving to becoming a Pukka Brown Sahib. After all I had the right credentials in terms of school, university and, above all, acceptability in the English aristocracy, something that our brown sahibs would give their lives for. So what led me to do a ‘lota’ on the Brown Sahib culture and instead become a ‘desi’?


Well it did not just happen overnight.


Firstly, the inferiority complex that my generation had inherited gradually went as I developed into a world-class athlete. Secondly, I was in the unique position of living between two cultures. I began to see the advantages and the disadvantages of both societies.


In Western societies, institutions were strong while they were collapsing in our country. However, there was an area where we were and still are superior, and that is our family life. I began to realize that this was the Western society’s biggest loss. In trying to free itself from the oppression of the clergy, they had removed both God and religion from their lives.


While science, no matter how much it progresses, can answer a lot of questions — two questions it will never be able to answer: One, what is the purpose of our existence and two, what happens to us when we die?


It is this vacuum that I felt created the materialistic and the hedonistic culture. If this is the only life then one must make hay while the sun shines — and in order to do so one needs money. Such a culture is bound to cause psychological problems in a human being, as there was going to be an imbalance between the body and the soul.


Consequently, in the US, which has shown the greatest materialistic progress while giving its citizens numerous rights, almost 60 percent of the population consult psychiatrists. Yet, amazingly in modern psychology, there is no study of the human soul. Sweden and Switzerland, who provide the most welfare to their citizens, also have the highest suicide rates. Hence, man is not necessarily content with material well being and needs something more.


Since all morality has it roots in religion, once religion was removed, immorality has progressively grown since the 70s. Its direct impact has been on family life. In the UK, the divorce rate is 60 percent, while it is estimated that there are over 35 percent single mothers. The crime rate is rising in almost all Western societies, but the most disturbing fact is the alarming increase in racism. While science always tries to prove the inequality of man (recent survey showing the American Black to be genetically less intelligent than whites) it is only religion that preaches the equality of man.


Between 1991 and 1997, it was estimated that total immigration into Europe was around 520,000, and there were racially motivated attacks all over, especially in Britain, France and Germany. In Pakistan during the Afghan war, we had over four million refugees, and despite the people being so much poorer, there was no racial tension.


There was a sequence of events in the 80s that moved me toward God as the Qur’an says: "There are signs for people of understanding." One of them was cricket. As I was a student of the game, the more I understood the game, the more I began to realize that what I considered to be chance was, in fact, the will of Allah. A pattern which became clearer with time. But it was not until Salman Rushdie’s "Satanic Verses" that my understanding of Islam began to develop.


People like me who were living in the Western world bore the brunt of anti-Islam prejudice that followed the Muslim reaction to the book. We were left with two choices: fight or flight. Since I felt strongly that the attacks on Islam were unfair, I decided to fight. It was then I realized that I was not equipped to do so as my knowledge of Islam was inadequate. Hence I started my research and for me a period of my greatest enlightenment. I read scholars like Ali Shariati, Muhammad Asad, Iqbal, Gai Eaton, plus of course, a study of Qur’an.


I will try to explain as concisely as is possible, what "discovering the truth" meant for me. When the believers are addressed in the Qur’an, it always says, "Those who believe and do good deeds." In other words, a Muslim has dual function, one toward God and the other toward fellow human beings.


The greatest impact of believing in God for me, meant that I lost all fear of human beings. The Qur’an liberates man from man when it says that life and death and respect and humiliation are God’s jurisdiction, so we do not have to bow before other human beings.


Moreover, since this is a transitory world where we prepare for the eternal one, I broke out of the self-imposed prisons, such as growing old (such a curse in the Western world, as a result of which, plastic surgeons are having a field day), materialism, ego, what people say and so on. It is important to note that one does not eliminate earthly desires. But instead of being controlled by them, one controls them.


By following the second part of believing in Islam, I have become a better human being. Rather than being self-centered and living for the self, I feel that because the Almighty gave so much to me, in turn I must use that blessing to help the less privileged. This I did by following the fundamentals of Islam rather than becoming a Kalashnikov-wielding fanatic.


I have become a tolerant and a giving human being who feels compassion for the underprivileged. Instead of attributing success to myself, I know it is because of God’s will, hence I learned humility instead of arrogance.


Also, instead of the snobbish Brown Sahib attitude toward our masses, I believe in egalitarianism and strongly feel against the injustice done to the weak in our society. According to the Qur’an, "Oppression is worse than killing." In fact only now do I understand the true meaning of Islam, if you submit to the will of Allah, you have inner peace.


Through my faith, I have discovered strength within me that I never knew existed and that has released my potential in life. I feel that in Pakistan we have selective Islam. Just believing in God and going through the rituals is not enough. One also has to be a good human being. I feel there are certain Western countries with far more Islamic traits than us in Pakistan, especially in the way they protect the rights of their citizens, or for that matter their justice system. In fact some of the finest individuals I know live there.


What I dislike about them is their double standards in the way they protect the rights of their citizens but consider citizens of other countries as being somehow inferior to them as human being, e.g. dumping toxic waste in the Third World, advertising cigarettes that are not allowed in the West and selling drugs that are banned in the West.


One of the problems facing Pakistan is the polarization of two reactionary groups. On the one side is the Westernized group that looks upon Islam through Western eyes and has inadequate knowledge about the subject. It reacts strongly to anyone trying to impose Islam in society and wants only a selective part of the religion. On the other extreme is the group that reacts to this Westernized elite and in trying to become a defender of the faith, takes up such intolerant and self-righteous attitudes that are repugnant to the spirit of Islam.


What needs to be done is to somehow start a dialogue between the two extreme. In order for this to happen, the group on whom the greatest proportion of our educational resources are spent in this country must study Islam properly.


Whether they become practicing Muslims or believe in God is entirely a personal choice. As the Qur’an tells us there is "no compulsion in religion." However, they must arm themselves with knowledge as a weapon to fight extremism. Just by turning up their noses at extremism the problem is not going to be solved.


The Qur’an calls Muslims "the middle nation", not of extremes. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was told to simply give the message and not worry whether people converted or not, therefore, there is no question in Islam of forcing your opinions on anyone else.


Moreover, we are told to respect other religions, their places of worship and their prophets. It should be noted that no Muslim missionaries or armies ever went to Malaysia or Indonesia. The people converted to Islam due to the high principles and impeccable character of the Muslim traders. At the moment, the worst advertisements for Islam are the countries with their selective Islam, especially where religion is used to deprive people of their rights. In fact, a society that obeys fundamentals of Islam has to be a liberal one.


If Pakistan’s Westernized class starts to study Islam, not only will it be able to help society fight sectarianism and extremism, but it will also make them realize what a progressive religion Islam is. They will also be able to help the Western world by articulating Islamic concepts. Recently, Prince Charles accepted that the Western world can learn from Islam. But how can this happen if the group that is in the best position to project Islam gets its attitudes from the West and considers Islam backward? Islam is a universal religion and that is why our Prophet (peace be upon him) was called a Mercy for all mankind.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by Ahmed Zulfiqar I feel there are certain Western countries with far more Islamic traits than us in Pakistan, especially in the way they protect the rights of their citizens, or for that matter their justice system. In fact some of the finest individuals I know live there. What I dislike about them is their double standards in the way they protect the rights of their citizens but consider citizens of other countries as being somehow inferior to them as human being, e.g. dumping toxic waste in the Third World, advertising cigarettes that are not allowed in the West and selling drugs that are banned in the West.

I think Imran is mixing up the West's philosophical/ethical position on human rights as maintained by the governments and courts, with the action of international business conglomerates.

If the developing world governments had more respect for the human rights of their own citizens then the capitalists would not be able to get away with their abuses.

For example, if the industry regulators in Bhopal had been up to scratch, backed up with tight safety and environmental legislation, then the Union Carbide disaster would not have occurred.

[Xohaib]

My Generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan, despite becoming independent, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public school boys rather than Pakistanis. I read Shakespeare which was fine, but no Allama Iqbal. The Islamic class was not considered to be serious, and when I left the school I was considered amongst the elite of the country because I could speak English and wore western clothes. Despite periodically shouting Pakistan Zindabad at school functions, I considered my own culture backward and Islam an outdated religion. Amongst our group if anyone talked about religion, prayed or kept a beard he was immediately branded a Mullah. Because of the power of the Western Media, all our heroes were western movie or pop stars.
When I went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up from my school days, things didn't get any easier. In University, not just Islam but all religions were considered anachronism. Science had replaced religion and if something couldn't be logically proved it did not exist. All supernatural stuff was confined to the movies. Philosophers like Darwin who with his half baked theory of evolution was supposed to have disproved the creation of man and hence religion.
Moreover, the European history had an awful experience with religion. The horrors committed by the Christian clergy in the name of God during the Inquisition had left a powerful impact on the western mind. To understand why the West is so keen on secularism, one should go to places like Cordoba in Spain and see torture apparatus used during Spanish Inquisition. Also the persecution of scientists as heretics by the clergy and convinced the Europeans that all religions are regressive.


old but great article by Imran Khan about his Islam.
full article here
http://www.khalidzaheer.com/essays/o...ive_islam.html

[violet_may]

Decent read. When was this written? Because, there are quite a few errors in his essay/he is misinformed (don't kill me for saying this insaftak lol)

[Xohaib]

Originally Posted by violet_may Decent read. When was this written? Because, there are quite a few errors in his essay/he is misinformed (don't kill me for saying this insaftak lol)

which one?

[cric_craze]

amazing article, sadly this ideology is still present in Pakistan

[saadibaba]

Than why did you flirted with a dozen gori's and also married a gori Khan sahib and still stay at your ex mother in law's residence when you go to London. Is it also because of the colonial hang up that you still seem to have while you promote anti western thoughts and criticize anyone who you find liberal calling him a slave of the *****. Talk about hypocrisy.

[asifp]

Originally Posted by saadibaba Than why did you flirted with a dozen gori's and also married a gori Khan sahib and still stay at your ex mother in law's residence when you go to London. Is it also because of the colonial hang up that you still seem to have while you promote anti western thoughts and criticize anyone who you find liberal calling him a slave of the *****. Talk about hypocrisy.

As he mentioned many times in interviews he become more spiritual after his retirement.

He married a gori yes, who happens to be Jew and according to the Quran you are allowed to marry a Jew, nothing wrong with that. However he went one step further and made her a Muslim. How many people have you converted?

Finally he divorced with her cause people kept on abusing her despite her adopting our culture and values. So if he goes there she is still the mother of his children and he is on on good terms with her, nothing wrong with still having contact.

He has lived life and has accepted his mistakes. Where does it say in Islam that one cannot learn from their mistakes or adjust the way they live?

I hate it when people say so and so guy did that in the 1970s. What does it matter. What matters is what they are doing now and what they can give us in the future

[saadibaba]

Funny how he says that he was on his way to become a pukka brown sahib having access to British aristocracy which other would have died for. Can't help but feel a tinge of snobbery and superiority complex here.

Also, he seem to be buying into the conspiracy theory that Princess Diana was killed because he was about to marry a Muslim. Hmmm....is this also part of the Islamic awakening, to interpret events with the eyes of a conspiracy theorist.

Plus, he is talking about the positive effects of Islam on Jemima, oops or is it Haiqa. Well as soon as Haiqa was off to London, she not only quickly changed her name, gave up on the purda but start dating the notorious womanizer Hugh Grant. I personally think these events have less to do with Islam and more to do with the suffocating way Khan sahib must be enforcing it on her. Not to mention that his kids still live and study in the **** sahib paradise called England.

[saadibaba]

Originally Posted by asifp As he mentioned many times in interviews he become more spiritual after his retirement. He married a gori yes, who happens to be Jew and according to the Quran you are allowed to marry a Jew, nothing wrong with that. However he went one step further and made her a Muslim. How many people have you converted? Finally he divorced with her cause people kept on abusing her despite her adopting our culture and values. So if he goes there she is still the mother of his children and he is on on good terms with her, nothing wrong with still having contact. He has lived life and has accepted his mistakes. Where does it say in Islam that one cannot learn from their mistakes or adjust the way they live? I hate it when people say so and so guy did that in the 1970s. What does it matter. What matters is what they are doing now and what they can give us in the future

Nothing wrong with anything, just pointing out the fact that he manages to do all the things a **** sahib are usually guilty of doing while continuing to criticize the slave mindset personified by the **** sahibs.

[Fawad]

Good article, thanks.

[siccric]

Good article, but he is stating nothing that is not obvious

[insaftak]

Originally Posted by siccric Good article, but he is stating nothing that is not obvious

obvious and commons sense is not so obvious anymore.

[PerfectionPersonified]

haters will continue to hate him ...no matter how much he changes himself.....sighssssssssssss
GO MQM GO

[Looney]

our elites = slaves to americans and british ( that is the reason they are called BURGER )

so if you go to elite school , do not complain . school i went to , was affordable for upper middle class people , yet we learned Iqbal's poetry and what not . Yes , talking in Urdu , except for Urdu class , was not allowed but only because they wanted us to be fluent in both language .

he comes across as hypocritical to me , or at least , trying too hard to find acceptance from the common people by blaming it all on the system and culture . If he is so keen on it , why did he marry a non-Pakistani woman who is also a non-Muslim ? why his sons do not live in Pakistan ? He can show us he is honest about it by raising them according to Pakistani culture and Islamic religion and traditions .

[Cricketismylife]

Imran is a smart man.

he knows that without acting religious he cant get the majority vote bank.

He doesnt sound at all at ease (or his usual authority) when he talks about Islam or the Prophet.

All in the game YO!

[Robert]

Originally Posted by saadibaba Than why did you flirted with a dozen gori's .

If by that you mean "slept with about a hundred of them." He was notorious! Imran would be phtographed coming out of Tramp nightclub with a different blonde on his arm nearly every weekend.

Overall a good read, though factually incorrect in a few places. I like Imran and think he talks a lot of sense, but a lot of nonsense also.

[cricketfanfirst]

I don't know much about Imran's political/religious stances to comment. I like and respect him as a cricketer and to me comes across as non-corrupt.

In India, we have communist party people who preach against american capitalism but the kith and kin of these leaders are the ones who study/settle in US. So, it is always easy for politicians to set different goal posts for themselves and for the common man. Easy to preach and difficult to practice the same is reminded by the behaviour of these people.

[ahsan88]

Acha ji.

Schools a majority of Pakistanis go to, teach Allama Iqbal/Ghalib and NOT Sheikh Peer.

[Justcrazy]

Originally Posted by saadibaba Than why did you flirted with a dozen gori's and also married a gori Khan sahib and still stay at your ex mother in law's residence when you go to London. Is it also because of the colonial hang up that you still seem to have while you promote anti western thoughts and criticize anyone who you find liberal calling him a slave of the *****. Talk about hypocrisy.

Good Point .

[Xohaib]

I dont think people have read the full article.he said that he learnt from his mistakes,he did everything wrong but reverted back to islam.

[Xohaib]

Originally Posted by saadibaba Than why did you flirted with a dozen gori's and also married a gori Khan sahib and still stay at your ex mother in law's residence when you go to London. Is it also because of the colonial hang up that you still seem to have while you promote anti western thoughts and criticize anyone who you find liberal calling him a slave of the *****. Talk about hypocrisy.

His children live there and no one can live without there children,he doesnt have any property or go there to lick there boots like ur amir ul momineen leader.

[iZaman]

Do not get personal on the person.
The Persons deed has a different life and his speech has a different life.

If a Kafir is stating Islam is the truth, that does not make his statement wrong.

and do not get personal. Anti-Imran people just can not find any other thing than his personal issues.

[Looney]

people come up with funniest bs ever

[Vegitto1]

My Generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan, despite becoming independent, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public school boys rather than Pakistanis. I read Shakespeare which was fine, but no Allama Iqbal.



The Islamic class was not considered to be serious, and when I left the school I was considered amongst the elite of the country because I could speak English and wore western clothes. Despite periodically shouting Pakistan Zindabad at school functions, I considered my own culture backward and Islam an outdated religion. Amongst our group if any one talked about religion, prayed or kept a beard he was immediately branded a Mullah. Because of the power of the Western media, all our heroes were western movie or pop stars. When I went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up from my school days, things didn’t get any easier. In University not just Islam but all religions were considered anachronism. Science had replaced religion and if something couldn’t be logically proved it did not exist. All supernatural stuff was confined to themovies. Philosophers like Darwin who with his half-baked theory of evolution was supposed to have disproved the creation of men and hence religion.



Moreover, the European history had an awful experience with religion, The horrors committed by the Christian clergy in the name of God during the Inquisition had left a powerful impact on the western mind.



To understand why the west is so keen on secularism, one should go to places like Cordoba in Spain and see torture apparatus used during Spanish Inquisition. Also the persecution of scientists as heretics by the clergy and convinced the Europeans that all religions are regressive. However, the biggest factor that drove people like me away from religion was the selective Islam practised by most of its preachers. In other words, there was a huge difference between what they practised and what they preached. Also, rather than explaining the philosophy behind the religion, there was an over emphasis on rituals. I feel that humans are different; to animals whereas the latter can be drilled, humans need to be intellectually convinced. That is why the Qur’an constantly appeals to reason. The worst of course, was the exploitation of Islam for political gains by various individuals or groups. Hence, it was a miracle I did not become an atheist.



The only reason why I did not was the powerful religious influence wielded by my mother on me since my childhood. It was not so much out of conviction but love for her that I stayed a Muslim. However, my Islam was selective, i.e. I accepted only parts of the religion that suited me. Prayers were restricted to Eid days and occasionally on Fridays, when my father insisted on taking me with him. If there was a God I was not sure about it and certainly felt that he did not interfere with my life. All in all I was smoothly moving to becoming a Pukka Brown Sahib. After all I had the right credentials in terms of the right school, university and above all, acceptability in the English aristocracy, something that our brown sahibs would give their lives for. So what led me to do a lota on the Brown Sahib culture and instead become a desi? Well it did not just happen overnight. Firstly, the inferiority complex that my generation had inherited, gradually went as I developed into a world class athlete. Secondly, I had the unique position of living between two cultures. I began to see the advantages and the disadvantages of both the societies. In western societies, institutions were strong while they were collapsing in our country. However, there was an area where we were and still are superior, and that is our family life. I used to notice the loneliness of the old-age pensioners at Hove Cricket ground (during my Sussex years). Imagine sending your parents to Old Peoples’ Homes! Even the children there never had the sort of love and warmth that we grew up with here. They completely miss out on the security blanket that a joint family system provides. However, began to realise that the biggest loss to the western society and that in trying to free itself from the oppression of the clergy, they had removed both God and religion from their lives. While science can answer a lot of questions, no matter how much it progresses, two questions it will never be able to answer: One, what is the purpose of the existence and two, what happens to us when we die? It is this vacuum that I felt created the materialistic and the hedonistic culture. If this is the only life then one must make hay while the sun shines and in order to do so one needs money. Such a culture is bound to cause psychological problems in a human being, as there is going to be an imbalance between the body and the soul. Consequently, in the USA, which has shown the greatest materialistic progress and also gives its citizens the greatest human rights, almost 60 per cent of the population consult psychiatrists. Yet, amazingly in modern psychology, there is no study of the human soul. Sweden and Switzerland, who provide the most welfare to their citizens, also have the highest suicide rates; hence, man is not necessarily content with material well being he needs something more. Since all morality has it roots in religion, once religion was removed, immorality has progressively escalated since the 70′s. The direct impact of it is on thefamily life. In UK, the divorce rate is 60 per cent, while it is estimated that there are over 35 per cent single mothers. The crime rate is rising in almost all western societies, but the most disturbing fact is the alarming increase in racism. While science always tries to prove the inequality of man (recent survey showing the American Black to be genetically less intelligent than whites) it is only religion which preaches the equality of man. Between ’91 and ’97, it was estimated that total immigration into Europe was around 520,000, and there were racially motivated attacks all over, especially in Britain, France and Germany. In Pakistan during the Afghan war, we had over four million refugees, and despite the people being so much poorer here and in the NWFP, they suffered a considerable loss in their standard of living as a result of the refugees yet, there was no racial tension, No wonder, last year in Britain, religious education was reintroduced into schools.



There was a sequence of events in the 80′s that moved me towards God. As the Quran says: “There are signs for people of understanding”. One of them was cricket. As I was a student of the game, the more I understood the game, the more I began to realize that what I considered to be chance was, in fact, the will of Allah, the pattern which became clearer with time. But it was not until Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses that my understanding of Islam began to develop. People like me who were living in the western world bore the brunt of anti-Islam prejudice that followed the Muslim reaction to the book. We were left with two choices: fight or flight. Since I felt strongly that the attacks on Islam were unfair, I decided to fight.



It was then I realised that I was not equipped to do so as my knowledge of Islam was inadequate. Hence I started my research and for me a period of my greatest enlightenment. I read scholars like Ali Shariati, Mohammad Asad, Iqbal, Gai Eaton, plus of course, a study of the Holy Quran.



I will try to explain as concisely as is possible, what “discovering the truth” meant for me. When the believers are addressed in the Quran, it always says, “Those who believe and do good deeds.”



In other words, a Muslim has dual function, one towards God and the other towards fellow human beings. The greatest impact of believing in God for me, meant that I lost all fear of human beings. The Quran liberates man from man when it says that life anddeath and respect and humiliation are God’s jurisdiction, so we do not have to bow before other human beings. As Iqbal puts it:



Wo aik Sajda jisay tu giran samajhta hai,

Hazaar sajdon say deta hai aadmi ko nijaat.



Moreover, since this is a transitory world where we prepare for the eternal one, I broke out of the self-imposed prisons, such as growing old (such a curse in the western world, as a result of which, plastic surgeons are having a field day), materialism, ego, what people say and so on. It is important to note that one does not eliminate the earthly desires, simply that instead of being controlled by them, one controls them.



By following the second part of believing in Islam, I have become a better human being. Rather than being self-centred and living for the self, I feel that because the Almighty gave so much to me, in turn I must use that blessing to help the less privileged. By following the fundamentals of Islam rather than becoming a Kalashnikov-wielding fanatic I have become a tolerant and a giving human being who feels compassion for the under-privileged.



Instead of attributing success to myself, I know it is because of God’s will, hence humility instead of arrogance. Also, instead of the snobbish Brown Sahib attitude towards our masses, I believe in egalitarianism and strongly feel against the injustice done to the weak in our society according to the Quran, “Oppression is worse than killing.” In fact only now do I understand the true meaning of Islam, if you submit to the will of Allah, you have inner peace. Through my faith, I have discovered strength within me that I never knew existed and that has released my potential in life: My educationprogramme that I intend to announce in March is far more ambitious than the cancer hospital project.



I feel that in Pakistan we have selective Islam. Just believing in God and going through the rituals is not enough one also has to be a good human being. I feel there are certain western countries with far more Islamic traits than us, especially in the way they protect the rights of their citizens, or for that matter their justice system. In fact some of the finest individuals I know live there. What I dislike about them is their double-standards in the way they protect the rights of their citizens and yet considercitizens of other countries as being somehow inferior to them as human being, e.g. dumping toxic waste in the Third World, advertising cigarettes that are not allowed in the west and selling drugs that are banned in the west. One of the problems facingPakistan is the polarisation of two reactionary groups. On the one side is the westernised group that looks upon Islam through western eyes and has inadequate knowledge about the subject. It reacts to any one trying to impose Islam in the society and wants only a selective part of the religion. On the other extreme is the group that reacts to this westernised elite and in trying to become a defender of the faith, takes up such intolerant and self-righteous attitudes that are repugnant to the spirit of Islam.



What needs to be done is to somehow start a dialogue between the two extremes. In order for this to happen, the group on whom the greatest proportion of our educational resources are spent in this country must study Islam properly. Whether they become practising Muslims or believe in God is entirely a ;personal choice; as the Quran tells us that there is “no compulsion in religion.” However, they must arm themselves with knowledge as a weapon to fight extremism. Turning up their noses at extremism is not going to solve the problem.



The Quran calls Muslims “the middle nation”, i.e. not of extremes. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was told to simply give the message and not worry whether people converted or not, therefore, there is no question in Islam of forcing your opinions on any one else. Moreover, we are told to respect other religions, their places of worship and their prophets. It should be noted that no Muslim missionaries or armies never went to Malaysia or Indonesia. The people converted to Islam due to the high principles and impeccable character of the Muslim traders. At the moment, the worst advertisement for Islam are the Muslim countries with their selective Islam, especially where thereligion is used to deprive people of their rights. In fact, a society that obeys fundamentals of Islam has to be a liberal one.



If our westernised class started to study Islam, not only will it be able to help our society fight sectarianism and extremism, but it will also make them realise what a progressive religion Islam is. They will also be able to help the western world by articulating Islamic concepts. Last year, Prince Charles accepted that the western world can learn from Islam during his speech at the Oxford Union. But how can this happen if the group that is in to best position to project Islam gets its attitudes from the west and considers Islam backward? Islam is a universal religion and that is why our Prophet (PBUH) was called a mercy for all mankind.
Imran Khan

http://www.mybitforchange.org/2011/selective-islam/
----------------------------
A true leader

[Pahari]

^an interesting read, thanks

[PakFan2011]

very good article, thanks for sharing

[Vegitto1]

bump

[Indiafan]

Originally Posted by Xohaib I dont think people have read the full article.he said that he learnt from his mistakes,he did everything wrong but reverted back to islam.

Pretty easy to do this after he spent his entire young age living life to the fullest, drnking, partying and womanizing. Of course one will get fed up of those things after a few years. But after doing all that, claiming that he did it because he reverted back to Islam seems to be B.S. to me. He would have got tired of that life-style anyways and he wouldnt have been able to come into politics if he still continued his old ways

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Isn't this article almost 10 years old?

http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=9&...=14&m=1&y=2002

A lot's happened since then, I wonder whether he would write the same stuff today?

[Xohaib]

Originally Posted by Indiafan Pretty easy to do this after he spent his entire young age living life to the fullest, drnking, partying and womanizing. Of course one will get fed up of those things after a few years. But after doing all that, claiming that he did it because he reverted back to Islam seems to be B.S. to me. He would have got tired of that life-style anyways and he wouldnt have been able to come into politics if he still continued his old ways

he left all this before coming into politicd,snd how many people have you seen stop drinking fter coming into politics,I think it increases.